New Delhi: Chinese rocket that was used to send a part of a planned space station into the Earth’s orbit last week, has allegedly went out of control before re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Chinese experts believe it is likely to fall in international waters as was reported by the China’s Global Times on Wednesday.
The Long March 5B took off from Hainan island on April 29 and was carrying the ‘Tianhe’ module. The module contained what will become the living quarters for three crew members on a Chinese permanent space station. The point of rocket’s re-entry remains unclear but the Global Times, a tabloid published by the People’s Daily, reported that the rocket is “out of control” and could cause damage on re-entry.
But the industry insiders said that the situation is “not worth panicking about.” Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine said, ” Most of the debris will burn up during re-entry … leaving only a very small portion that may fall to the ground, which will potentially land on areas away from human activities or in the ocean.”
United States’ Defense Department said U.S. Space Command was tracking the rocket’s location and it is expected to re-enter around May 8. The Pentagon said, ”All debris can be potential threats to spaceflight safety and the space domain,” adding that the 18th Space Control Squadron in California would be offering daily updates about the rocket body’s location starting May 4.
The White House said the United States was committed to addressing the risks of congestion due to space debris and wants to work with the international community “to promote leadership and responsible space behaviors.”
Aerospace expert Song Zhongping was also quoted by The Global Times. He said, “China’s own space monitoring network will keep a close watch on areas under the rocket’s flight course and take measures to avoid damage to passing ships. The environmentally friendly fuel used by the Long March 5B would not pollute the ocean.”
He added, “In all, it is another hyping of the so-called ‘China space threat’ adopted by some Western forces.”
